Sales drop to weigh down Poundland profit figures
The outgoing boss of Poundland, Jim McCarthy, is to unveil his final set of full-year figures on Thursday after a testing year for the chain Âfollowing sales falls and a Âdifficult £55million takeover of rival 99p Stores.
The group is expected to report an 11 per cent drop in underlying pre-tax profits to £38.7m for the year to March 27, with sales declines rising in the final six months.
The group issued a warning on profits in January after Christmas trading was hit by poor numbers of shoppers on the high street, and trading has remained under pressure since then.
Andrew Porteous, analyst at HSBC, said: “It may take some time for the business to stabilise like-for-like growth, given momentum and lead times in ordering seasonal stock.”
Porteous added that the “strategic intentions” of incoming chief executive and former B&Q UK and Ireland boss Kevin O’Byrne “will also be key in the longer term”.